There’s a hippie on the highway- James Hadley Chase

Harry Mitchell, after serving his three years in Vietnam, visits Paradise City for a vacation before taking up a job in New York.

En route to Paradise City, Harry saves Randy (also a traveler) from a bunch of hippies. Randy feels greatful and promises to get Harry a job as a life guard in a sea side restaurant. While travelling together, they fall into a trap where they’re planted with a corpse of an old guy. But Harry and Randy find a safe place and ingeniously dispose the body. They reach their destinations and life seems normal for a few days. But soon, Paradise City Police Force suspect something’s wrong and start digging.

In the end, when the adventure is over, Harry is overwhelmed by the amount of violence he’s faced and wonders how his future would turn out to be.

A Can Of Worms –James Hadley Chase

In this book, the protagonist, Bart Anderson is a creep, a reckless spender and an operator in ‘The Parnell Detective Agency’ in Paradise City. His problem is that he has a money sucking girlfriend and he can never get enough money to spend on her, which leaves him always borrowing from friends.

And that’s when the agency lands him with the job of tailing the rich author, Russ Hamel’s wife to check if she’s having an illicit affair. But he finds out that there’s something more than just an affair, or worse, a terrorist link up. But Bart is so stuck up and his girlfriend keeps badgering him to make more money that he turns blackmailer.

What happens later is what the story is all about. But finally, the author makes you see that blackmailing does no good.

Tell me your dreams- Sidney Sheldon

An interesting plot. Keeps you reading till the end.

Ashley Patterson, aged 28, working for global computers in Cupertino is a workaholic and she gets this feeling that she's being constantly stalked and followed.

Tony Prescott, 22, also working for global computers is a vivacious, i-dare-to-do-anything kind of a girl. She has a great voice and an awesome singing talent. She frequents night clubs and sings when the singers take a break.

Alette peters,20, works for global computers too. She's sensitive, calm and quiet. She is a talented artist and volunteers at church to teach painting to kids.

A series of murders takes place and the victims are all men. They are all stabbed and castrated.
The evidence (finger prints and DNA tests) shows that Ashley Patterson has committed the murders. But it turns out that Ashley Patterson, Toni Prescott and Alette peters are all the same person; and Ashley suffers from MPD (multiple personality disorder) - a medical condition in which different personalities occupy the same body!

Toni Prescott, the dominant alter ego is the one who is responsible for committing the murders and Ashley is not even aware of it. So Ashley is released from the murder charge and sent to a mental asylum where she gets treated. It then comes out to light that she has had a terrible childhood. The alters had been born when she was six and  her father molested her and she couldn't cope with the emotional trauma. Moreover, Ashley's mother had hated her when she was a child, and that had added to the reasons for the alter-personalities getting created.
However, finally, when Ashley gets cured and comes out of the asylum, she sings Toni's (her alter's) favorite song which leaves us in a quandary whether she has been really cured or whether Toni still resides in her..

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I personally liked the book. But Tamilians who've watched ANNIYAN, a film which derives it's plot from the inspiration drawn from this book will agree that half the thrill is lost as we're already familiar with the plot.
However, Anniyan is a complete commercial film made for the Indian audience, and it was quite a hit!

I would advise people to not read the book in the nights. It gives creeps. But it makes us all agree that Sidney Sheldon is truly a mastermind and that he manages to make all his books compelling reads.

NO ORCHIDS FOR Miss.Blandish --- by James hadley chase

This is supposed to be his first book.. and my favorite author's! So i kinda took it with a lot of expectations... but to describe this book in one word, it's DEPRESSING!

its a thoroughly depressing thriller or story or whatever.. involving only MOBS & COPS.
Beautiful Miss.Blandish is kidnapped for ransom and she undergoes terrible things in the hands of these vicious kidnappers.. especially slim grissom, one of the evil guys.

Dave Fenner the private investigator investigates the case and succeeds.... but finally, everyone dies!

the language is utterly low-brow & cheap! just like the bad mobs use...!
Miss.Blandish's fate is so overwhelming that we feel sorry for her at the end.

MY LAUGH COMES LAST - jamed hadley chase

Chase is of course a mastermind! his books are small, yet awesome. And this is one of his books, one shouldn't miss!
MY LAUGH COMES LAST is fast paced, intriguing and its climaX just leaves us speechless.

Larry Lucas, the main character is an electronic engineer who helps build the world's safest bank for Mr.Farrel Brannigan, the president of national californian banks & also Larry's mentor.

he then meets beautiful Glenda and falls in luv with her after which, a vicious gang of four people pin up a murder on him & blackmail Larry to help them rob the bank. they gang kidnaps glenda and holds her fugitive. . and now Larry has no choice . .

but the uneXpected turn of events and revelation of each person's character and everything else contained in this little book makes it a gr8 reading eperience :)